WELCOME TO AMERICA’S GAME OF BASEBALL AND TECTONIC PLATES

What are people concerned about? HEALTHCARE!

A basic question that requires an answer is just what is health insurance? Depending upon which side of the aisle (Democrat/Republican/Independent), your socioeconomic status, which way you lean (right/left/centrist), whether you are an employee or employer, whether you are a Veteran or active duty/retiree, American Indian or Alaskan Native, a senior citizen, a millennial, Gen X, baby boomer, or none of the above; your bias will come in to play. That said, let me try to establish some basic principles upon which you may hang your proverbial hat as we move forward. There are some principals which are basic and probably apply regardless of where you sit in this sports arena called healthcare or whatever happens to the ACA.

Do you have questions or concerns about healthcare? Are you a healthcare consumer? Are you a healthcare provider? A policy maker or decision maker? A patient advocate? Stay tuned. In the time from now through the midterm elections, I will be blogging based on what people like you and me are concerned about when it comes to health care.

Let’s interact with each other. Why should you do that? “Trust me, I’m a Doctor.” Use my online CONTACT form — let me know what you think.

“Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical”

I will establish the analogy that health care is a baseball game which has excellent seats at the ball park. Great seats at the ballpark. Good seats at the ballpark. As well as those with something left to be desired when it comes to an impeded line of sight as far as health care coverage is concerned. Where those who sneak in during the seventh inning stretch finally wind up and how much access to the game (coverage) they actually have. And those souls who stand out on Waveland Avenue looking up longingly to Wrigley Field and the cherished game being played on the hallowed diamond contained inside. Waveland Avenue is behind the left field bleachers of Wrigley Field. There have been many home runs hit onto the street behind those left field bleachers. For many who yearn for baseball tickets (insurance coverage) it will be the closest they ever come to entering the ballpark proper.

Some might say, that if the Healthcare Coverage game is played in the same ballpark, then all the seats are worth sitting in, depending upon your viewpoint as an observer and utilizer of healthcare. The quality of the seats, the view of the game, the nearness to the action will all change as you move around the ballpark from one location to another.

And who said that the game is always played in the same park? Just like in baseball, there are many leagues (from Independent to Triple A to the Show). Many geographical locations abound. Each location evolved their Baseball (read Healthcare) differently. From the “Friendly Confines” of Wrigley Field mentioned above to the “House that Ruth Built” in New York. From staid old Fenway Park to the era of “cookie cutter” stadiums. Each structure had different architects, designs, infrastructure, amenities, etc. And construction issues and pitfalls in design. So, just as the seat location in the ballpark is a major variable in our game of Teutonic Plates and American Healthcare; I would suggest that where and when the venue was built may be just as important. And that is only one of our variables.

At the end of the day, the myriad “home parks” where our game of Healthcare Baseball is played adds to the instability of our American Healthcare in Transition. The hodgepodge of moving parts and processes if you will. Not to mention the Tectonic Plates upon which each of those storied diamonds were/are/and will be constructed. Picture if you will a baseball stadium. Baseball and healthcare you might be asking? Bear with me a second while I expand this concept. How you view healthcare and how your perceptions impact your healthcare reality depend upon where you are sitting. What do you see right in front of you so to speak?

How you view healthcare and how your perceptions impact your healthcare reality depend upon where you are sitting in the Baseball Stadium of HealthCare.